Chamo Adventures
by amoreanfibio
Summary: A Rookie Police Officer, a Pokemaniac, a Smalltime thief, and a Potion Maker begin their pokemon journeys. They now not only have to deal with some disagreeable pokemon, but a dangerous secret. Character Submissions closed
1. An Escape Route

This is my very first Pokemon Fan Fiction, so please forgive me if this story does not suit your tastes.

Here are a few things about this universe so you're not confused:

-The Story takes place about twenty years after Ash's adventures.

-Ash is now a pokemon professor. (What? There's Oak trees and Elm trees and Birch trees and Ash trees.)

-This story does include pokemon that I made up.

-The region this story takes place in is Chamo, another fan-made product of mine.

-Unlike the tv shows, Nurses and Police Officers are distinguishable individuals.

-Lance is the current champion. He was defeated by Cynthia but later defeated her and regained his title.

Thank you, and enjoy.

Chamo Adventures: the Burden of Freedom

Chapter 1: An Escape Route

* * *

It was pitch black everywhere else, but the abyss on the mountain I was standing in front had red light glowing from it. At first I just stood by, feeling the hot updrafts in front and the whipping breeze behind me, just staring out through the red light into the blackness on the other side. I was scared, I remember that distinctly, about what was in the crevice, but finally I summoned up all my courage and peered down. 

Not a mountain, I told myself as the hot air stung my eyes, a volcano.

I was looking down for miles at the endless levels of hardened lava and flowing rivers of magma. I even thought I saw some Magbies and Slugmas down there. It was an incredible view.

But just then, I saw a creature rise up from the magma below, something dark, with flaming wings, a magnificent phoenix like beast, but I wasn't thinking about how it looked, just my well-being. I had to get out of here. Now.

But I couldn't. I was on the edge of a cliff. Backing away would be an even more certain death. When I turned around again, I felt the thud of claws gripping the stone beside me, followed by a screech louder than any I had ever heard. But at the same time, it sounded familiar. Very familiar.

It was the sound of screeching car tires. I should have known.

Groaning, I pushed myself up to a sitting position and sighed. It was the only time I had ever been happy to find myself at home. I usually hated it here. Not just in my "House," but everywhere in this Satoshi-damned city. My home was nothing more than a rundown little shack, probably built in the time of the fossil pokemon, in which there was hardly anything in it besides an old tv and torn up couch. My "dad" was asleep on it. Some dad! I was the one who made all of the money, and all he did was lay there, day in and day out, throwing it out on booze. Luckily, I was away for most of the day, working double shifts at Pizza-ria, or else I could just forget about eating. Everything happened to be very costly in that city.

Which was why I had developed a habit of pick-pocketing.

Sure, they say crime doesn't pay, but heck, I'm always managing to pay the rent every month. And besides that, it brought me some excitement, something this overpopulated, smelly old city rarely had. I could barely go outside the town because, "the wild pokemon are dangerous!" which really sucks in my opinion. I'd like to just get out of here, but without a pokemon, I have no hope of doing so. Dammit, I was almost jealous of those elementary school kids who get to choose a pokemon from the lab in town when they get of age.

But anyway, enough ranting, back to that night. I'd like to increase tension by saying it was deathly silent and stuff, but it wasn't. Between my "dad's" snores, the cement floor I was laying on with a sleeping bag, and the traffic screaming outside, you may wonder how I had gotten any sleep at all. (But if you had a huge workload like I did you might not.) I didn't notice any of that though; that strange nightmare always seemed to haunt me. I just sat there for a while obsessing over it like a wimp when I heard three loud raps on the creaky old door, and then a scampering of feet. A dark silhouette flew by the broken window and was gone.

Okay, I thought, that was weird. Who the hell was that? Was that guy trying to give me a signal or something? I didn't know, but I got up and opened the door slowly, finding a packaged video tape on the doorstep.

Luckily, we did have a VCR. I inserted it and sat down on the floor as the screen flashed to life.

On the screen, a man with a shadowed face spoke.

"Hello, Theo. Allow me to inroduce myself. I am Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, the world's greatest thieves."

What the--! Was this some sort of prank? Something told me it wasn't, since the dude knew my name, and I didn't think I was all that well known in town. But Team Rocket? World's greatest thieves? They disbanded years ago! And what did they want with me of all people?!

"We sent you this video because we want to know if you would like to join us. Why you? You probably wouldn't believe this, but everyone in our headquarters have been observing your skill in sleight of hand. We know that you thieve for sport, that you get a cheap thrill from watching people flounder in vain for their wallets. We have seen your potential. You feel like gyarados in a pond of pathetic, brainless magikarp, without the means to escape to the real world, where your skills can truly be tested."

True as this might be, this guy was creeping me out big time

"Therefore, we are giving you this opportunity to work with the world's greatest pokemon thieves. Tomorrow, you will see one of our agents in the restaurant you work in. You'll recognize her right away because she'll have a monkeon pokemon with her." A picture of a brown monkey-like pokemon appeared next to Giovanni. "Tell her that you like her pokemon, and she'll know it's you. This is a play once video, so don't worry about destroying it. The wrong people might find the remains. And now, back to pichu bros."

As the two chubby yellow rodents enter the screen, I crossed the room and switched the television off. But my bewilderment refused to let me sleep for the rest of the night. And though a tiny voice screamed in my head, "Suspicion! Foreshadowing! Mysterious criminal lord that was supposed to have been dead! You're doomed to jail time if you agree! Report to authorities!" a much bigger one was drowning it out with, "Escape route! Escape route! Now's you're chance! Take the job, for the love of Satoshi!" It was, needless to say, an easy decision at the time.

Of course, I later found out that it wasn't my decision after all. Giovanni had asked me to join him, and that I was going to have to do, on pain of death.


	2. A Bad Way to Start the Day

Chamo Adventures: A Secret Civilization

Chapter 2: A Bad Way to Wake Up

* * *

"Woohoo! Wake up, big sis, wake up! Yeah!" 

My half asleep senses picked up a very large and heavy lump bouncing up and down on my legs, and I truly believed for a second, in my grogginess, that it was Christmas morning.

"C'mon! We're gonna miss our appointment in the lab if you don't hurry up!"

Ah, that made much more sense.

"G'off m'legs, ya li'l wurmple," I muttered into the bedclothes, to which my younger sister obeyed instantly, probably scurrying around the room picking up the dirty laundry.

Groaning, I pushed myself to a sitting position, wearing nothing but a nightshirt and my hair a mass of wild fuzz. Vision still blurry, I glanced at the neon red numbers of the alarm clock.

"What the--c'mon, Raina, it's barely six!!" I yelped. "It doesn't start till eight."

"Yah, duh!" she snapped, as if it were obvious. "We need to be the first ones there!"

"Why?" I pleaded.

"Just get dressed, Mandy! Hurry!"

"Whatever," I replied, obeying grudgingly. By now, I should have been used to waking up at the crack of dawn, but after spending a year in police training camp, I had forgotten what it was like to sleep in. If only my counselor could see me now…

Right then, Raina might as well have been him. This was her bossiest attitude in years. But if anyone knew that she was a nine-year-old pokemaniac who had been dreaming of this day ever since she could walk, you couldn't blame her.

Even by the time I had lumbered to the bathroom, she was already fully dressed and frantically yanking her socks on. She was a skinny little kid with barely any muscle on her arms, but very deft fingers due to her spending five years of her life rapidly typing on the computer. Her favorite website was scientic mysteries .edu (NOT a real website.) where she could spend endless hours looking up distant photographs of legendary pokemon. And of course, like other kids her age, she had dyed her hair a fanciful color; green. In other words, all of the stuff I didn't give a growlithe crap for.

I was just about the complete opposite of her. Besides refusing to dye my hair, (mine was naturally black,) I was much more physically active, and the only thing I had learned about pokemon was how to command them and give them basic care. This was probably why I was not overly excited about getting a pokemon thing like she was. I had passed the exams at camp to begin rookie police work, which required owning at least one pokemon. And as if that wasn't troublesome enough in my opinion, I was also required to bring my nosy little sister along. Being nine years old, she was just one year short of being old enough to having a pokemon license. But since our dad was part of the PLAK, (Pokemon League Association of Kanto,) Raina had been begging for months, and the fact that she was turning ten that August, an exception was made.

It didn't matter how much I begged and pleaded. Mom and Dad insisted that we travel together. They were the one's who made sure our lab appointments to pick up our first pokemon were on the same day.

I was combing out my wild hair in front of the bathroom mirror when my mom came in wearing a bathrobe and looking just as tired as I was.

"I didn't know you two would be up so early," she said.

"That's what I thought too," I replied, "but the professor over there wants to be the first one there."

"At this rate she'll succeed. You do know your appointment was changed to three PM, don't you?"

DAMN RESCHEDULE!!! I thought, remembering suddenly. Another kid had been scheduled to get his pokemon on the same day, but had some work to take care of at central park and wouldn't have been able to come so early, thus getting our appointments moved to later in the day. I fiercely turned to the door where Raina had been waiting to come in to use the bathroom herself. She was trembling when she saw me and quickly exclaimed, "If you need me, I'll be in the living room beating my head against the wall!" then rushed away, blubbering.

I sighed and turned to Mom, who was trying very hard to keep a straight face. "Thanks a lot!" I scoffed. "This has been a great way to start the day!"

"I'm sorry, honey," she said, smiling in a way that made it clear to me that she was lying. "But you know perfectly well Raina can't go by herself."

That was the excuse they always used. I knew it was too late to argue with her, so I staggered back to our bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, falling asleep to a repeatitive banging sound coming from the living room.


	3. Hoothoot's Hoot

I so need to work on keeping promises. Sorry again, folks.

Chamo Adventures: The Great Atrocity

Chapter 3: Hoothoot's Hoot

* * *

---Tagging Log--- 

Time---No.---Con.

6:34AM---40---OK

7:01AM---28---OK

8:54AM---58---OK

9:10AM---32---IN

LUNCH BREAK

12:14PM---22---PL

I swear, the only good thing they did in this city was building a park. To put it simply, it was as if they had taken a piece of the forest and set it down in the middle of the concrete jungle. There were dirt paths and clean cut grass, but other than that, it reminded me of Moss-Green Town, the place I had lived as a toddler.

Several species of bird pokemon lived in the park, as well as around the city, like pidgey, hoothoot, and murkrow, there were large populations of rodent pokemon, sentret, rattata, and pachirisu mostly, but that early hour, there was only one that I was searching for.

Fribbel.

Fribbel is a newly discovered pokemon with strange set of properties. Rather than eating seeds or nuts like most other rodent-like pokemon, this furless lagomorph feeds only on toadstools, poisonous plants, and other such things that most lifeforms would consider inedible. Somehow, their body has a way to process the toxins and store them on a round, violet sphere on the end of it's thick tail. The tail seems to hold special muscles that can squeeze the sponge-like tail. It can squirt the poison at offenders or just punch them with it, which also would leave remnants on the attacker's skin.

Catching them is very simple. Since they are as gullible as they are agile, I have Fast Balls imported to us from Old Man Kurt in Kanto, and then I put death cap mushrooms around in various overgrowth, (they LOVE death caps but hate eating out in the open.) and when they come to have a bite, I simply catch them off guard by throwing the Fast Ball at them.

That's the easy part. The hard part comes when trying to examine and, in several cases, tag the little devils. Thanks to Professor Ash, the guy who had hired me to do this in the first place, I had a small portable chamber with a kind of transparent, acid repelling wall that I could release the captured Fribbel into. However, the Fribbel would rarely cooperate during the examination. With rubber gloves, I would reach inside and try to get the darn thing to sit still.

The first few were quite a hassle that day, all perfectly healthy, which was fine with me, considering how other things were going. The fourth one, number 32, who's visits had become much more frequent in the past few days, had a back leg that was twisted in an odd way, so instead of releasing it as I had with the others, I placed it back inside the Ball so I could take it to the lab. I went searching for another couple hours until lunch.

If you're near, or, in my case, in central park, you don't need a watch to know when it's noon. Hoothoot pokemon have a strange instinct causing them to wake up every twelve o' clock and start hooting. This appears to serve no purpose for themselves, but we humans certainly find it useful.

I laid back against an old stump and pulled out a sack containing my lunch. My life had gotten a lot more frantic and difficult ever since we came to this city. Cassandra and I, at first, had been traveling potion makers. When we heard about what was called the "Chartreuse Poke Plague," we thought we were only going to be in the city for about a few weeks. The story behind this mysterious sickness was a trainer who brought in a koffing one day to the Chartreuse pokemon center, the first known pokemon to have this disease. Every pokemon in the center was infected, and the building was fume tented. But the plague had already gotten exposed to the pokemon in the park, and for some reason, fribbel, that powerful little poison pokemon, was most prone to it.

After finishing off my egg-salad sandwich that I had packed for my lunch, I went searching for more fribbel. To my slight surprise, the next one came rather quickly.

It was number 22, one of the oldest females. Her olive green skin had grown pale, indicating her age. She gazed at me weakly from behind the glass of the container. For a moment, I stared back with dismay. The pitiful creature was wrinkled, weary, and unnaturally skinny: I could count every rib on it's side. I didn't need to examine her to know that she wouldn't fight back. She was plagued.

I sighed and recalled her. Nothing could ruin my day more than another sick pokemon. _Oh well,_ I thought. _It's almost time to go anyway. At least I caught her when I did._ A pokemon that dies with the plague not in isolation is even more deadly than a living one.

All the while, as I walked back into the city toward the laboratory, I prayed with all my being that my plan would work. The conversation with my older sister came back to me:

_"You see, there are certain ingredients we need for this potion that are only good if they come fresh. Most of the common ones can be shipped like they are. Other things must first be dried or they go bad on the way here. And some things must be refrigerated or they spoil. But there are some things, usually the rarer poisons, which simply cannot be preserved."_

_"Then we need people who can make those things into potions for us and ship them."_

_"Yes, but there's very few potion makers left in the world and, in addition, are extremely hard to get a hold of. Who are we going to find who could do this."_

_"Er…Wait. Hold on a second…Maybe…"_

_"What?"_

_"Maybe I could?"_

_"You?"_

_"Yeah. I just need a license so I can get out of town, collect the poison we need, then make a new potion."_

_"I…I'm not quite sure that's a good idea. We need you around here to tag the Fribbels, you know."_

_"You can hire someone else; it's not that hard a job."_

_"Well…"_

_"Sis, I'm tired of watching things die. We've been doing what we're doing for two whole months now and it obviously isn't working. At least give me a chance."_

_"Alright, Peter, you win. Let's hope this works."_

I would make it work. I was tired of watching things die.


	4. Lance's Last Stand

Chamo Adventures: Plasmic Peril

Chapter 4: Lance's Last Stand

* * *

I wanted to die. 

No, correction. I wanted to put myself in a coma so I could have an excuse to spend the next five months thinking up a new strategy.

Why would I want to do that, you ask? Well, on the very day Mandy and I were going to start our pokemon journeys, all of my dreams and plans that I had worked on for the past year and a half were all destroyed in a mere ten seconds.

You see, we had some time before we had to head off to Ash's lab to pick up our new pokemon, so we decided to have lunch at Pizza-ria. And while we were there, I watched on the TV set up in there the most devastating battle I had ever witnessed.

When we came in, the first thing I noticed was the raging battle between Champion Lance and an unknown challenger, whose name I later learned was Voltaire.

How I loathed the name.

The battle going on at that moment was between Lance's Charizard, a dragon with a flaming tail, and Voltaire's Magnezone, a robotic pokemon, one of the newly discovered ones. I had a sinking feeling as I watched. But Charizard managed to defeat Magnezone, followed by a sigh of relief from me. Then it showed the scores.

"Lance and Voltaire are both tied, three to three on both sides!" cried the announcer. "It will be met with a sudden death battle after a little break. Stay tuned to Live League Battles, brought to you by…" and I wasn't paying attention at this point because I hate commercials and the pizza had arrived.

I was awake again the moment I heard the words, "And now, back to Live League Battles!"

Lance and Voltaire were standing parallel to each other from across the field. I could barely eat as I stared at the screen. The announcer went over the rules:

"Both Contestants have healed their pokemon and chosen one of them to be in this final match. Whoever wins will take on the title of International Pokemon Champion!"

_Lance, for the love of God, you'd better not screw this up,_ I thought fiercely. But, as you might have already guessed, he did.

Lance sent out Flygon, a Ground Dragon element. It seemed like a good choice at first, until Voltaire sent out his choice: a Lanturn.

I panicked at first, but then calmed down again as a thought came to me. _So he sent out the pokemon with the better type advantage. Big whoop! Flygon's Dragon type counters water type moves. Lance knows his stuff. He won't lose._ But I guess I must've jynxed it because at that moment, Flygon was frozen by Lanturn's Ice Beam. It barely survived the hit, but it had enough energy left to break itself free and burrow into the ground before it was hit again. Flygon at least managed to get Lanturn with it's dig attack, but it was clear it would be defeated. A Hydro Pump attack saw to that.

"Flygon is unable to battle! Lanturn wins!"

I howled and collapsed in despair. I had never before felt more disappointed, more devastated, than I did at that point in time. All of my plans for the perfect party, the perfect win, gone.

Mandy yanked me upright by the collar of my shirt and hissed, "Stop it! You're making a scene!"

I couldn't stop it. Blinded by tears, I rushed outside, almost bumping into someone coming in.

It was the end of the world.

I was about halfway to the park by the time I started to calm down. It was then that I realized that I still had hope.

I checked my watch. I had about an hour and a half before my appointment to get my first Pokemon started. I would go to the Library. I would find a list of his party online. (Every Licensed trainer and their parties can be found if you google their names.) I would plan from scratch a new party that would be able to go up against his. I was struck down, but not destroyed. Yet.


	5. Planning Panic

Chamo Adventures: The Burden of Freedom

Chapter 5: Planning Panic

* * *

She definitely wasn't from around here. She looked as if she might've been in the army at some point in her life. She wore wide flaring camouflage pants, a white tank top, and was carrying a large backpack over her shoulder. A small, brown pokemon rode on top of the pack, but jumped onto the floor and followed behind her when they came inside. It had a skinny body, a thin tail, a lion-like mane, and dark brown stripes covering it's otherwise light tan colored fur. At first it walked on all fours with lithe fox grace, but as it climbed onto the chair across from where it's trainer was sitting, it was most likely some kind of primate, with hands on it's front legs instead of paws. 

I recognized it almost instantly. It was the pokemon Giovanni showed me in the video: Monkeon.

Becoming impatient, the customers at one table screamed at me to bring them their pizza, which I did. Then, I hurried back out to the table where she and her pokemon were sitting. When she saw me approaching, she said in a gruff voice, "I'm not ready to order yet."

"I like your pokemon," I said simply.

She then grinned smugly, stood up, and offered her hand to me. "You must be Theo," she replied.

"That's me."

"My name is Tyris. And that's Zika," she added, pointing at the monkeon.

"I like it," I repeated, shaking her hand, "and I'm not saying it just because Gio--"

"Shhhh!" she hissed. "It's not safe here. Let's go outside."

We went outside into the alley beside the restaurant. It was about midday, and the sun was not quite overhead. The alley was cleaner than some, but away from public eye.

"Let's get down to business, then," Tyris murmured. "You clearly got the vid from Mr. G, right?"

"Uh, yeah," I said.

She just nodded and stroked Zika on the head. "Alright then, let me clear a few things up with you." In a low voice, she began. "First thing to know: The boss is tough, very tough. He gives us the hardest missions. There are some that seem nearly impossible. But you simply have to do it, because if you don't, well…. Have you ever seen a James Bond movie?"

"What??"

"Never mind. Anyway, second thing to know: The salary depends on the job. If you steal just a few crummy pokemon, I doubt he'd pay you more than five dollars. But if you manage to get your hands on one of the legendaries, you'd get something like eighty grand. There was some one who did that a few years ago. I think it was something called Articuno."

"What do you mean, a legendary?" I asked, feeling stupid.

Tyris rolled her eyes. "You know," she started to count on her fingers, "there's the legendary birds, the legendary dogs, the legendary golems, and I think there are others."

"Ah." I had always heard fanciful stories about such creatures, but I had never really believed them.

"Third and final thing: you have to have at least one pokemon to even interview with the boss."

I just sort of stared at the ground.

"You do have a pokemon, right?"

"No," I said, then added, "So what if I don't?"

Tyris rolled her eyes again. "Some thief you are. Why don't you just steal one?"

"From where? Very few people seem to have decent pokemon. Just pathetic, round ones." This was quite true. The reason I had never bothered to steal a pokemon was one: It wouldn't make any difference, I still wouldn't be able to leave town without a license, and two: the last thing I wanted was to be seen walking around with a hoppip.

"Listen, I don't know much about this city," Tyris began, "but I do know that Professor Ash lives here and distributes pokemon to beginning trainers. Three kids are going to be receiving some of those starters today, so all you have to do is mosey on over to Ash's lab and nab your new pokemon."

"Easier said than done," I grumbled, "that place is guarded better than the mental hospital. If you're thinking about just strolling through the front door and casually swiping a poke ball from the lab table, we might as well go and tell the police that you're a rocket grunt and I'm a rocket wannabe because we'll get the same results."

"Don't be so negative," Tyris drawled, "I'm not that dense. This is a two part action plan. I'll make a diversion, and while everyone's distracted, you just stroll through the front door and casually swipe a poke ball from the lab table. Oldest, but most successful trick in the book."

"Oh."

Tyris smirked at me. "For someone the boss wanted so badly to join Team Rocket, you sure are stupid. Anyway, after the heist, we'll have to get out of here pretty fast, so grab your gear and meet me outside the lab."

"Okay, see you later, then," I replied, but she and Zika were already gone.

That was bizarre. Team Rocket sure gave me a strange first impression. Tyris was smart-alecy but seemed like a decent person. What was this leading to?


	6. Sleep Walking

Chamo Adventures: A Secret Civilization

Chapter 6: Sleep Walking

* * *

As I expected, I saw Raina coming down the street toward me. When she had wordlessly run out of the Pizza-ria several minutes earlier, I headed to Ash's lab, knowing full well that she'd show up there eventually when the time came. And it wasn't for naught, although when she came into view, I could see that she was half running, half staggering, for her arms were wrapped around a mountain of papers. When she reached me, she collapsed by my feet, still holding on to the documents so they wouldn't blow away. "Made it...with five...minutes...to spare..." 

"What are those?" I asked her.

"Notes," she gasped. "Everything…I need…to know…to…defeat…Voltaire!" Her tired voice ceased not to hide the disgust.

She straitened up, still panting, and handed a single piece of paper to me, explaining, "This is the most important note of them all."

It was a profile of this Voltaire fellow:

**Name: Voltaire Arion**

**Age: 19**

**Gender: M**

**Active Party:**

**Species - level - attacks**

**Magnezone-lv.52-thunderwave, sonicboom, harden, thunder  
Electivire-lv.55-earthquake, giga impact, thunderbolt, thunderpunch  
Lanturn - lv. 49 - ice beam, hydro pump, flash, spark  
Ampharos - lv. 50 - thunder, light screen, hyper beam, protect  
Luxray - lv. 45 - scary face, thunderbolt, agility, extreme speed  
Rotom - lv.40 - astonish, confuse ray, shock wave, toxic**

Next to this information was a photograph of a blonde-haired young man.

"So?" I asked

"Okay. According to Voltaire's profile, nearly all of his pokemon are electric types. Building a Water/Ice party like I originally planned would stand no chance against that kind of power, so I'm resolving for more of a ground sort of strategy. And since Magnezone is his second most powerful pokemon, I guess I'm going to settle for a fire pokemon this time."

Raina looked up and, upon seeing the blank look on my face, sighed and added, "In other words, Meraoi is yours."

"Oh! Okay, thanks." Meraoi (pronounced mer-OW) was the water starting pokemon, one of the ones Ash was giving out. It was a small, intelligent looking merfolk type pokemon that was one of the few I thought was cool.

"So you don't want meraoi anymore? Why?"

She looked at me as though I had just stepped out of a UFO. "Holy Satoshi, Mandy! Don't tell me you didn't see what I saw at the restaurant on tv!"

"Might've noticed a thing or two, but no, not really."

Raina stood perfectly still for a few seconds in pure disbelief, then tore the sheet of paper out of my hands. _"What do you think this is, huh!!?"_ she shrieked uncontrollably, reaching up and waving it in front of my face. _"What the hell do you think this is?!? You think I ran all the way to the library and back for nothing?? NO! Don't you understand?! This guy, this son-of-a-houndour idiot, is the new champion! Don't you get it?! Don't you freaking understand what that means!??!"_

"Okay! Okay!" I cried defensively, "Calm down! I get it!" And I certainly did. After all, Raina had only been talking about it for the last month and a half. The only thing she would ever talk about was the "perfect party," as she called it, that would "wipe the floor with the Elite Four." But if this Voltaire guy was the new champion instead of Lance, and was using an entirely different set of pokemon, then I could imagine how disappointing that would be, like the time my backpacking trip got cancelled a few years back. Even though I thought she was extremely overreacting about this situation, misery is surprisingly contagious, and I found myself feeling very sorry for the little creep.

"Hey, chin up," I said, patting her the back. "I heard you talking about how hard it was gonna be to train meraoi. Didn't you say Kittren was much more powerful?"

"I guess," she muttered, "but it would have been easier if Lance was still the Champion instead of that…Voltaire!" Once again, she said the name with pure distaste.

I shrugged. "Who ever said life was easy? Besides, it could've been worse. You could've found out about it after you started your party."

She looked up and gave me a half-hearted smile. "Very good point. I guess you're right. But still…" her voice trailed off as if she had forgotten what she was about to say, then shook her head. "Nevermind." Then she abruptly changed the subject. "Did you happen to have…the weirdest dream last night?"

I was slightly surprised, but I replied sarcastically, "No, but you happen to ask the weirdest questions at the weirdest times."

"I'm not being funny!" insisted Raina. "Some kind of weird signal was sent to me last night, and I was wondering whether you picked it up too!"

I sighed. Was this where we were now? "Honestly, sis, you've been watching too many sci-fi movies lately."

"I have not! I've only seen _Chao in Space_ five times in the past month! And anyway," she added, eyes narrowing, "it's a proven fact that pokemon can send psychic messages to humans."

"Whatever," I said. "So what was this mysterious psychic message about?"

Raina opened her mouth, then snapped it shut again. "Well…it was more of a vision, really," she admitted. "I was at home with the curtains closed when I heard a loud noise from outside, so I opened the curtains and saw…" she paused "...saw flames everywhere; everything was on fire. This whole city, the forest, the mountains to the north, even the desert. Just burning up."

I suddenly could understand why she seemed a bit nervous about this if she thought the vision was real. "Well, that is really weird. Actually, it's kinda scary."

"It gets worse," Raina continued, lowering her voice. "This shadowy thing, looked kind of like a bird if you ask me, was flying around in the sky. And then…it saw me!" she declared.

"So?"

"SO!?!" Raina shrieked suddenly. "Mandy, it was horrible! Looking into the eyes of it was like…I don't even know! It felt as though Satoshi had damned me and I was in Hell with this beast. That's when I woke up."

"Look, Rain," I tried, "nightmares are just part of life, but they don't mean anything."

"I said, it WASN'T! ANY! NORMAL! DREAM!" she cried, bouncing up and down furiously with her words. "I'm telling you, it was too real to be a dream! I swear to Satoshi I could feel the heat from the fire on my face! And that's not all! When I woke up, I was standing in front of the window! I've never sleep-walked before in my life! You know that!"

"Actually, Mom said you did sleep-walk a long time ago, but you got right back into bed so you didn't notice."

"What!" Raina blurted. "Why didn't she tell me?!"

Shrugging, I replied, "I guess she didn't want to scare you at the time. You were only four or five then."

By this time, Raina's face was hot enough to ignite a match. "Whatever! That's not important! What I'm saying is…"

"What I'm saying," I snapped, losing my temper a little, "is that you need to chill a little, okay? All of your ranting on about apocalypses and Pokemon Champions is giving me a headache. Just stop!"

Raina gave me a piercing glare but at that moment, we heard three sharp tolls from the city clock tower. Raina turned haughtily and headed into the lab, and I followed.

It was time to choose our starters.


	7. The Starters

Chamo Adventures: The Great Atrocity

Chapter 7: The Starters

* * *

"Alright, who wants to go first."

No reply.

"C'mon, I don't have all day."

I glanced at the two girls sitting to my left. One of them was about my age, sixteen or seventeen, with black hair tied into a tight bun and wearing a police uniform. The other must've been just ten, wearing a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and had green shoulder length hair. Neither of them looked happy at all, even though the Professor promised me that they were going to be jumping with joy that day.

My gaze returned to the table where the three pokeballs laid untouched. The one on the left most side had a leaf symbol on it, the middle with a small flame symbol, and the third with a water drop symbol.

I knew why I didn't want to go first: Even though I visited Professor Ash daily to give him plagued or injured Fribbel, I had forgotten what the three starter pokemon were. (That's me. I've memorized all the different uses for Nidoran horns, but I can't even remember the names of three stupid pokemon.) Therefore, I decided to let the other two candidates to choose first and then take whatever was left. Why the others didn't want to go first was a complete mystery to me.

Professor Ash was looking at us from the other side of the room. He was a man in his thirties but looked a little bit younger than he was. He was wearing a white lab coat, his black hair was unnaturally messy, and he was looking at us with a mixture of impatience and confusion on his face. Sitting on a table behind him was an elderly pikachu, staring at us with equal interest with her squinty black eyes. (Author's note: Yes, Ash's Pikachu is female.)

After a few silent minutes, Ash finally threatened, "I'll choose your pokemon for you if you don't."

I was just about to pipe in that that was just fine with me when the girl in the police uniform stood up.

"I'll go first. I know what I want anyway." She immediately grabbed the pokeball with the water symbol. As she did so, her hand had pushed the button on the ball.

The effect was immediate, yet predictable. There was a distinct popping sound and the girl leapt with alarm as a beam of red light spurted out from the ball. The pikachu's ears perked up with recognition at the exact same time.

The light fell onto the ground and began to take on a shape, and then, almost in the same instant, a creature stood there.

Well, actually, I think laid is a more accurate verb, seeing as it had no feet, although it was able to sit upright despite its blue serpentine body. It was about two feet long with the clear resemblance of a fish with a jagged tail fin. Its head and upper body, however, looked like some kind of strange limbless human baby. It had fully developed shoulders, but two wing-like fins in the place of arms. Its face, flushed with unexpected human emotion, was decorated with assorted fins and curious dark blue markings. And on it's chest was what looked like an upside down water droplet.

When the thing saw its new trainer, it let out a high pitched, yet sweet-sounding noise that was a bit like a cross between a sigh and a chuckle. The police girl was frantic.

"Oh God! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…uh…How do I put it back?"

"Don't apologize," Ash chuckled, "and don't worry about 'putting it back' for now. Meraoi is one of those pokemon that doesn't like to be locked away very much."

The girl warily took her seat, eyes never leaving the meraoi. It flopped across the room after her and curled up by her feet. She shifted uneasily in her seat.

Professor Ash, meanwhile, wrote something on a clipboard and then turned back to the other two of us. "Who's next?"

Again, no reply.

Desperation began to creep into the professor and he said to me, "Peter, c'mon. You honestly don't care what pokemon you get?"

I shrugged, "not really."

"What about you, Raina," he said, turning to the other girl. "I thought you wanted to beat the champion."

The girl, Raina, crossed her arms and said casually, "All of them except meraoi are suitable."

The meraoi looked up upon hearing its name, but then covered its face with its fins when it realized what she said. Its trainer looked down at it.

Ash sighed, "You kids are impossible!" Then he turned to me. "Look. I've picked out a grass pokemon that I was hoping you'd take, seeing as it's suiting for your journey."

"I'll take it then."

"You haven't even seen it yet!"

So I got up, picked up the poke ball with the leaf symbol on it, and pushed the button.

The process that went on for the meraoi repeated, except the thing that came out was completely different. At first it looked like a perfectly normal bush, not much taller than a foot, but after a few moments, it opened two big, round, blank looking eyes that regarded me with curiosity. As I knelt down for a closer look it scooted away using its thick brown roots.

"So this is…" I searched my mind for a moment, "…busharee?"

Like meraoi, the busharee recognized the sound of its name and crept a little closer.

"Yup," Ash replied, "and it's yours. Unless, of course," he added quickly, turning toward Raina, "you want it."

But Raina shook her head. "No. Kittren's okay." She got up and began reaching for the last pokeball…

_**BOOOOOM!!!**_.


	8. Monkey Mistress

Chamo Adventures: Plasmic Peril

Chapter 8: Monkey Mistress

* * *

I had barely moved after I heard the explosion when I saw a blue streak speeding through the door and pushed me to the floor. Gasping, I pushed myself up and saw a furoki.

Extremely rare, furokis are powerful pokemon that can absorb energy from opponents and then release it again. It was a primate type pokemon with blue fur, a spikey mane, and sucker-like hands, feet, and tail for holding energy balls. The little beast shrieked in delight and rushed back to the door. Everyone gasped and I looked to see why.

A young lady stood in the busted doorway. She wore camouflage pants and a white tank top and had long orange hair. Beside her stood the furoki along with two other pokemon: an aipom and one I, amazingly enough, didn't recognize. It was another monkey type that strangely resembled an eeveelution.

Ash faced her. Even though most of his pokemon were either retired or released, he still liked to collect new ones. Plus, some species he owned aged very slowly and were still able to fight. He was just starting to reach into his pocket when…

"Freya! Tail whip!"

Mandy's meraoi leapt forward, somersaulted in midair, and began to bring its tail towards the Aipom.

The lady didn't even flinch. She said rather lazily, "Bandersnatch, tickle attack."

The aipom raised it's hand-tail and greeted the lunging meraoi with a grab and a rapid movements of fingers. Meraoi let out a squeal and fell to the ground squirming vigorously.

"You idiot," I muttered to Mandy.

"What?"

"So, mister," the lady said to Ash with a smug voice, "you gonna battle or are you gonna make these wannabes do your dirty work."

Quick as lightning, Ash reached into his pocket and hurled three poke balls, which opened and released a torterra, a staraptor, and a tauros.

Satisfied, the lady said, "Prepare to face the Monkey Mistress." she turned to her pokemon. "Zika, Bandersnatch, Eiffie. Attack."

I closed my eyes and listened to the raging battle until there was no more sound. When I reopened them I found my theory to be proven right. The clever combination of ground and flight was a complete terrain disadvantage to all of the woman's pokemon. All three lay knocked out across a torn up floor. Staraptor shrieked in victory, swooped down, and smashed the glass around emergency security button. A few moments later, the room was swarmed by security guards who arrested the strange woman and confiscated their pokemon. (To be specific, the recalled her pokemon and placed them in a PC storage unit.)

Several minutes later, we were all questioned by a few investigators, and then they left finally. Ash approached me with, to my confusion, a pleased expression on his face.

"Turns out that person had gotten through our security by having her pokemon destroy the alarm and camera program. But damage is minor, so I'm going to just forget it for now."

"Great," I said, a bit uninterested. "So, what happened to my pokemon?"

"It's…it _was_ just on this table…"

The table was empty except for the stands which the balls were originally settled. Ash was silent for a moment. "Maybe…"

"Maybe it fell on the floor?" I suggested.

We spent the next few minutes on our hands and knees reaching under tables sweeping out dust bunearies from underneath them.

"You won't find it here."

We looked up and saw Mandy standing in the doorway, her new meraoi at her feet. She was cringing, as if waiting for something horrible to happen.

"Wh-whaddya mean, sis?" I stammered.

"I already told the guards. Someone stole it," she whispered through gritted teeth.

"Who?" I heard Ash say. I couldn't see him; my eyes were clamped shut. Someone…? Who…? Why…?

"I don't know," Mandy replied nervously. "I only saw him after he left."

"And you're sure he took kittren?"

"I don't know why else that woman came here. She was the distraction. I'm sure of it."

I trembled as I opened my eyes. The look on the Professor's face made it clear that this was no joke. "Professor?" I could barely get the words out of my mouth without crying. "Am I not going to get a pokemon?" The painful knot in my throat loosened and tears began trickling down my face.

Ash turned to his pikachu, which was still sitting on the table behind him. He seemed ask her an unspoken question, because she nodded before he turned back to me and said, "No."

This surprised me a little. "You have…another pokemon for me," I asked hesitantly, hardly daring to believe.

"Yeah, but you'll have to wait till tomorrow. It's still recovering from injuries."


	9. Inferno

Chamo Adventures: The Burden of Freedom

Chapter 9: Inferno

* * *

"Well, you certainly botched up your first mission." 

"What'd I do!?"

The commotion was incredible outside. Police car sirens squealed every second. Every once in a while, the chatot, who said her name was Myrna, would fly above and sing out a perfect imitation of a siren in order to throw the police off. I, in the meantime, was hiding under a blanket between a box and a trashcan in an alley. Myrna would fly down periodically to check on me, and also to insult me.

She was sort of pretty, I guess, with her colorful feathers and her musical-note shaped head, but she was also extremely annoying, and conversing with her was always a creepy experience, mainly because she changed her voice with almost every sentence.

"Oh, honestly!" Myrna drawled in a British accent. "First of all, you let yourself be seen! It ain't called a stealth mission fer nothin'!" Her voice changed to a cowboy's.

"It wasn't my fault," I said defensively.

"It wasn't my fault," she echoed, using my voice, which made me jump. "Tell that to Tyris. She got arrested because of you!"

"How could I have helped that?!"

"How could I have helped that?!"

"Seriously, tell me!"

She giggled, her voice now a little girl's. "You took way too long to grab you stuff. Tyris barely had enough time to make a decent entrance. Oh, hold on." She turned her head and called back, (Man's voice.) "I'm already searching this place, guys!"

"Okay!" one of the police officers called to her. The sound of a car driving away was heard.

"Hold on," (Squawky parrot voice,) "I'm gonna take a look." She fluttered her wings and took off.

I sighed and took off my hat. The pokeball I had stolen was inside. I would never have admitted it then, but I was feeling extremely guilty. Tyris was a weird girl, but the thought her going to jail right after my new freedom was, to say the least, disappointing. _Bet Giovanni wants me on the team now,_ I thought.

"Coast is clear," she said, flying down, and with the curl of a French accent in her voice. "Now listen carefully," (Telephone operator voice,) "After you leave Chartreuse City, head straight west across route 62. It should lead you straight into Magenta. Now, how much money do you have?"

"'Bout fifty bucks from pick-pocketing."

"Good," (Snarly pirate voice.) "Take 'em doubloons an' git yerself a room at the pokemon center, eat a harrrdy breakfast, an' wait for Gyro, me master. This 'ere be a pass ye can use to git outta Chartreuse. Got it?"

"Got it," I replied, taking the small, white bar-coded card.

"Very well. I'd love to escort you," (stuffy woman's voice.) "but Gyro needs me. See you then, private!" (drill army sergeant voice) With that, she took off and flew away.

* * *

I was tired. I had brought some food with me, but eating frozen hotdogs sounded worse than being hungry. I should've brought some matches, or better yet, a compass, so I could've avoided this mess in the first place. 

I could've sworn I had been going the right way. But the farther I went away from Chartreuse, the smaller the big road leading away from it became until it was a mere stantler trail through a montrous forest. That, plus the fact that it was getting darker by the minute was why I was in the middle of nowhere sitting by a tree in the dead of night.

However, it was in that forest that something incredibly weird, yet incredibly cool, happened.

There was a time the moon was shining straight down into the clearing I had been sitting next to on a big tree root. I heard the sound of rustling leaves. I saw a movement near my feet. And the next thing I knew, a hoarde of little pokemon were making their way into the moonlit clearing. They had a round stature with small feet and huge leaves, pale in the moonlight, coming from the tops of their heads. They were just marching about until they left on a small trail of moonlight that was shining between the trees.

I was suddenly reminded of my pokemon. What was it? I pulled out the pokeball and looked at it. _Well,_ I finally decided, _I'm probably far enough to be safe from the police in Chartreuse. What harm would it do if I took a peek?_ So I pushed the button on the pokeball.

First it began glowing red as if it were extremely hot, then it opened and exploded with light so intense I covered my eyes. When I looked, another pokemon was standing in front of me in the clearing.

It was an orange cat.

_Damn,_ I thought. _So much for getting a cool pokemon. I'd've been better off with a hoppip. Oh well, at least it's something._

The cat's bright orange coat rippled when it saw me and it mewed pitifully and annoyingly loud. It walked right up to me and tried to rub against me.

"Gah!" I cried the moment it touched me. It was like an electric blanket turned onto the highest setting. I tried to push it away, which worked, but it then began to paw at my backpack.

"What do you want?" I asked it grumpily. _Then again, _I thought, _now would be a good time to set up camp._ I reached inside and began pulling things out until I found the hotdog package. The cat began sniffing it when I set it on the ground.

"I can't cook you anything," I told it. "And if your going to be my pokemon, you'll have to prove you can do more than look cute."

Incredibly, the thing seemed to understand what this meant. It ran off, and, a few minutes later, returned with a dead taillow dangling from it's mouth.

"Impressive," I muttered, not really impressed at all_. That cat must've just taken it from a nest_.

Much to my dismay, I was right. There was a deafening screech and the cat yowled in pain as a dark swift shape knocked it to the ground.

The mother swellow swooped into the star spangled sky, screaming in desperate rage, before swooping down again straight at the cat. This time though, it was ready. Just before the swellow spread it talons to try and tear the killer open, it leaped fearlessly with it's own claws and teeth at the ready. Fur and feathers flew from the rolling bundle of fury, but eventually, swellow broke free and went shrieking off into the night, leaving the cat, ruffled, scratched, tired, yet victorious.

I was slightly dumbfounded. The cat, however, went straight to the dead taillow it left on the ground and began eating it as if there had been no interruption.

I knelt down next to it and said. "Nice battle."

It didn't respond, but unless I was imagining it, it's purring grew a bit louder.

"So," I said, sitting down on the sleeping bag I had spread out, "I guess you need a name now, don't you? What about...Flame?"

It made a sound that seemed to say, "You're kidding, right."

I was silent again. It's incredible how fast one's opinion may change. This cat that had been a weakling to me was now a fighting machine. Potential names began drifting throughout my mind. I finally decided on one.

"Inferno."

He looked up expectantly from his meal. Inferno was waiting for orders.


	10. Freya

Chamo Adventures: A Secret Civilization

Chapter 10: Freya

* * *

"Raina?" 

"What?"

"Where would be the best place for Freya to sleep tonight?"

We were at home. Since Raina's new pokemon was going to be given to her the following day, thus delaying her journey, I wasn't allowed to leave until then either. So I was trying to accommodate my new pokemon at the apartment.

Raina raised her head from the book she was reading and her eyebrow. "Freya?" she said with disbelief.

"Yeah, you know," I replied, "my…aw, Satoshi, what was it…meraoi?"

"Oh," she went back to her book before continuing. "Just run a bath with lukewarm water."

"Thanks. Hey, watcha reading, anyway?" I asked.

"Just my old Pokemon Encyclopedia."

"What for."

"No reason, really. I'm just bored."

"Okay. Thanks again," I started to leave.

"You wanna know the real reason?"

I came back. "Huh?"

She beckoned me over to her so I came behind the couch to look over her shoulder. On the page she was pointing at was a picture of a pikachu.

After a few moments of silence, Raina sighed and remarked, "You sure are slow on the uptake, sis."

"What?"

"Don't you see what this is?"

"A pikachu. And a cute one at that."

"No, you idiot!" she snapped impatiently. "Read the part I'm pointing at."

"Your finger's in the way."

Raina groaned and moved her hand a few inches. "Right there," she declared, indicating a short paragraph:

_In certain regions, pikachu is a common "emergency starter," sometimes referred to as, "the fourth starter." An emergency starter's name speaks for itself. It simply means that if no other starter pokemon,_ (see pages 1, 4, 7,)_ is available at the designated time, the supplier must give a fourth pokemon to the trainer that would not normally be an option. Because pikachu and other emergency starters are not normally breed in captivity, they tend to be much harder to train, especially for beginning trainers._

"Ah," I exclaimed, "so you're worried about raising a pikachu, right?"

"I'm glad someone finally understands me," she chuckled sarcastically. Then her voice grew serious. "It's not that I'm worried about what I'm going to do about it. I've got all that planned out."

"As usual."

"Heh, yeah. But that's exactly what I'm worried about!!" She threw the old encyclopedia on the coffee table in disgust. "So far, everything else I've worked so hard on has been flushed down the toilet. I'm afraid if I try to research the electric rodent, that knowledge will go down the drain too!" She crossed her arms and pouted.

I took a deep breath, chose the right words, and sat down next to her. "I wish I could say I feel your pain," I began. "I really do. But I honestly don't know how to think so far ahead like you do." Raina blinked in interest, but remained silent. "You and I are very different, come to think of it," I continued, "You're always closed up in your room, researching stuff online. You always take things seriously, even if Mom promises to make Italian for dinner and does Chinese instead. But I like to go outside, ride bikes, play with friends, and I like to slack off and not do things until the last minute." Raina chuckled a little. I waited for her to stop before going on. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that we're barely in the same place at the same time. And since I don't know what you know, I'll tell you what I know." I took a another breath. "I learned from some older friends of mine that when you're a police officer, there's no such thing as a typical day. There's hardly any time to plan because one minute you might be relaxing in a coffeehouse and saving lives the next. I'm guessing, by your experiences, that training pokemon is the exact same way."

There was a long silence in which I supposed Raina was taking in my words. She seemed to be lost in thought, but then picked the Encyclopedia up again.

"I'm only half-way with you," she said decidedly. "Pokemon training isn't quite as instable as you're putting it. You still have a choice on what pokemon to capture, which Gym Leaders to battle, which places to visit. I'm going to research other emergency starters before tomorrow."

I smiled. I didn't expect my pep talk to take total effect, but it was something. "You know," I told her, "If you don't want pikachu, or whatever Ash is going to give you, I'll let you take Freya."

Raina grinned. "Thanks, but no thanks. I already told you, meraoi is going to be worthless against Voltaire, and besides," she added, glancing at the doorway, "she's already imprinted on you."

There was a soft whine coming from the hallway that was so mournful it could've melted a heart of stone. I turned and saw Freya dragging herself into the room, staring at me with pleading eyes. I could see why she was so depressed looking: Her skin was dry and wrinkled like a phanpy's and looked a little greenish. I jumped to my feet.

"Awww. I'm sorry I got distracted," I said to her scooping her up in my arms. "Let's make your bed now, Freya."

I went to the bathroom, laid her down in the tub, and began running some water, making sure the hot-cold dial was in the middle. No sooner had I done this when she scurried under the faucet to receive full stream of the water. I giggled, mainly because she was acting like me after a long day in the hot sun when I spent the first few blissful moments in a cold shower.

We had one of those huge old-fashioned tubs that could hold many gallons of water. I filled it up about half-way before turning it off and leaving. To my surprise, I heared Freya whining.

I asked Raina about it.

"Well, meraoi are used to living in oceans or other large bodies of water. I say fill the tub up another quarter or so."

I went back and did what she said, explaining the situation to Freya. "I know you're not used to being crammed up like this, but it's all we have. Don't worry, once we get to Magenta Town, I'm sure they'll let you go swimming in the Crimson River." Magenta Town was a small fishing village west of Chartreuse City and the Crimson River was a large river that stretched across Chamo and bordered several cities, Magenta obviously being one of them.

I started to leave again, but Freya began to cry again.

"C'mon," I moaned, "what do you want now? I'm supposed to be training you, not the other way around!"

Freya gripped her belly with her fins and made a pitiful gurgling sound.

"Ah…um…One second." I went to the living room again. "Raina?" I called, "What do meraois eat?"

"They're omnivores, like us," she replied, "but yours is still young. Give it something soft."

I went to the freezer and selected a package of imitation krabby, thinking it would remind Freya of home. I wasn't disappointed. Freya made a weird yet positive sounding noise as she happily nibbled a piece of meat.

"I guess you really like seafood," I remarked.

What Freya did next caught me off guard. She raised her head and made a strange noise that sounded like, "eeehhhsssssss." At first I thought she was hissing at me, but she was smiling with endless cheerfulness which made me unable to believe she was angry.

"Did you just say, 'yes'?" I asked carefully.

"Eeeeeehhsss," she squealed.

"That's '_Y_es,'" I explained.

"Tha eeehss," she replied.

I rushed out of the room. "Raina!" I gasped, entering the living room. "Freya…She's talking!"

Raina finally looked up from her book. "You don't say," she exclaimed, sounding impressed. "I didn't think a meraoi so young would be able to talk."

I paused. "Wait. Are you telling me that talking is normal for a meraoi?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you. The tame ones, at least. We've yet to study wild ones."

"I never knew pokemon could learn to talk."

"Sure, but only certain species. Meraoi, chatot, meowth, and a few others."

"Incredible," I murmured.

"And not only words," Raina went on, "grammer too. But they have to learn early on. Keep working with Freya. Pokemon who can communicate freely with their trainers tend to have closer relationships with them."

I went back to Freya, who had a confused expression on her face, wondering why I had left her so suddenly.

"Listen, Freya," I said slowly, yet enthusiastically, hoping she would catch the words. "I'm going to teach you how to speak my language. You want to do that?"

Freya cocked her head at me and replied, "Eeehhhhss?"

"'Atta girl," I said, stroking her head. "Now first…"

But at that moment, Mom was calling me for bed, so the English lesson was cut short.


	11. George

Chamo Adventures: The Great Atrocity

Chapter 11: George

* * *

"What do you mean, 'the ferry's closed'?" I asked the man angrily.

"You heard me, kid," He snarled back. "There was 'nother landslide 'round Sienna City. Dammed up part of the river. They're clearin' it out as we speak, but til it's gone, no boats, no exceptions."

"The river's not the only thing that's damned," I muttered under my breath, thinking of the dying pokemon at home, but otherwise I remained silent. The Ferry Port was just less than a klick south of Chartreuse. My plan was to make my first stop Aqua Marina, an oceanside city in Scarlet Bay, which was at the end of the Crimson River, to catch a Tentacruel. It held one of the rarest natural toxins in the world, so I figured it would be a good way to start my collection.

But if the ferry was closed...

"Look, sir, this is an emergency," I tried, "I need..."

"I don't care whatcha need!" He roared. "Go to Teal City if you wanna get ta Aqua Marina! Their ferry is still in service. Now git off my back!"

The guy shoved me out the door and slammed it shut behind me. I sighed and looked across the hillside coated with trees almost black with the coming day, and beyond that was Chartreuse, shadowed eerily by the rising sun. It seemed like ages since I had come out of the city. For some reason, I had remembered that ferryman being a lot nicer than he was now.

_So, now what?_ I was guessing the only path I had left was west across route 662, an ideal route for beginning trainers, but none of the pokemon I needed to capture dwelled there. _Oh, well,_ I thought, _sure better than waiting around here._

Not wanting to head back to the city, I began following the river, knowing it would eventually lead me to Magenta Town. It wasn't the most direct way, but it would've taken longer to go back on the more beaten path.

"Hey, you!!!"

I had been walking a little too close to the river, for I had almost fallen in when the voice rang out. I just managed to grab on to a tree branch before my feet left the ground.

"Haha! You may be older but you're clumsier too!" the same scoffy voice declared.

I pulled myself upright and saw the messy brown haired six or seven year old boy sneering at me a short distance away. He wore torn blue overall jeans and carried a crudely constructed fishing pole over his shoulder and a pokeball in his hand.

"Tell me what you want, kid," I groaned, hoping I wasn't about to be challenged to a battle.

The boy grinned, revealing a missing front tooth. "A battle."

Damn.

"I'm in a hurry," I snapped. "I don't have time to battle." I started walking past him.

This made his grin become a smirk. "Why? Scared o' me?"

"Mortified," I replied, not missing a beat or stopping and turning around.

For a second, there was silence, then footsteps as he ran up to walk beside me. "C'mon, be serious. Why won't you battle me?"

"It's like I said before," I explained, "I'm in a big hurry, so I'd appreciate it if you'd kindly buzz off."

Suddenly, my way was blocked. The kid was on his knees in front of me, hands folded around the pokeball, fishing pole lying carelessly on the ground. "Please!!" He begged. "IgotthisreallyawesomepokemonfrommybigbroandItraineditbutnoonewillbattlemebecausethey-thinkI'mtoosmalltotakepokemontrainingseriouslyandI'llnevermakeittothebigleagueifIdon'tbattle-someonepleaseplease..."

"Fine," I cried, cutting off his annoying little hyperchant. "But if I battle you, you'll have to leave me alone from then on."

"Gotcha clear as crystal!" He cried, leaping to his feet. He began hopping back until there was about ten feet of distance between us before throwing the pokeball. "Go, Tox, go!"

The ball opened up, and out came a peculiar looking pokemon. It looked a bit like an upside-down tentacool, it's top attached to the ground and it's short black tentacles squirming spasmatically in the air. I was a bit stunned upon seeing it. "Is that a...Poypolyp?"

"Sure is!" the kid smiled. "But c'mon! Send out your pokemon already!"

I shrugged and released my Busharee without drama. It blinked curiously upon seeing Poypolyp--or Tox, I guess--and revealed no intellegence. The kid hooted with laughter. "I don't know...what that thing is..." he gasped between chuckles, "but it's no match for Tox! Get it, boy! Poison Sting!"

Tox's two tentacles began stretching towards the clueless looking Busharee.

"Vine Whip, Busharee! Counter the attack!" I commanded. I didn't have much battling experience, but I had gotten several good tips from my sister. The bush's two front roots uncoiled from the ground and met the tentacles before they could strike it.

But it was then that I realized something: Busharee was straining to keep it's grip, but it wasn't because it trying to stop the stingers from touching it, it was slowly pulling the Poypolyp toward itself. Tox was bending over, desperately trying to reel it's tentacles in, but Busharee only tightened it's grip. Inch by inch, it scooted itself a little bit farther back, using it's back roots as anchors.

Finally, a distinct pop was heard and Tox was thrown several feet in the air as it's feet had finally been pried from the ground. The thing must've been too shocked to pull back it arms like it was trying to do before, even though the bush had let it go. Once it was free of the forest floor, Busharee spread it's four roots out, launched itself into space, and rammed itself into the flying Poypolyp.

With a dropped jaw, the kid watched helplessly as his pokemon fell to the ground in semi flattened heap, tentacles strewn across the battlefield like old and forgotten jumpropes. He immediately ran to the Poypolyp's side and picked it up. "Tox! Speak to me, little guy!"

Tox opened it's squinty little eyes, made a weak burbling sound and managed to pull back it's flopping appendages. Just then, the boy looked up at me, smiling like it was his birthday. "Hey! Tox for Busharee! Whaddya say?"

I forced a smile back. Just how stupid did he think I was? "Sorry, no trade." At the same time, though, it was tempting. If I had a Poypolyp, It would eventually evolve into a Tentacruel and solve my problems.

Suddenly, the kid gave a yelp. Busharee had just swung one of his heavy roots at him. He managed to move out of the way, but it continued advancing, madly rustling it's leaves.

"Cool it!" I called, stepping forward. "Stop this now, Busharee!"

It ignored me entirely. It's eyes--still perfectly expressionless--were focused only on the boy and the half-dead Tox.

"You asked for it," I sighed, calling it back inside it's pokeball.

The boy breathed a sigh of relief, recalled Tox, and said the last thing I expected him to say: "You don't have a name for Busharee yet, do you?"

"Well..." I began, not quite certain what to say, "...no, but I had never planned give it one. Why do you ask?"

"'Cause I was thinking you could name him George."

I was about to say something along the lines of, "No way, Jose," when the real meaning began to dawn on me. "Well, he is pretty stupid..."

"And war-hungry," he added with a laugh.

I nodded. "George it is, then. You're pretty good with names, kid," I added.

"Yeah, but my parents aren't. I'm Harold." He began to run back into the dense foilage of the woods.

"Peter," I called back.

After he disappeared, I put George's pokeball in my pocket, knowing full well I'd have to focus a little bit more on training than just capturing.

* * *

Flame me, all you republicans. You know you want to. 


	12. Thirtytwo

Another lack of updates. (sigh) Please allow me to thank all of my so-far reviewists for their undivided patience.

Apparently, there's been some confusion about who is who at the beginning of each chapter. I was hoping that the bit after each "Chamo Adventures" would be enough, but I guess now is a good time to leave you the key:

The Burden of Freedom: Theo

A Secret Civilization: Mandy

The Great Atrocity: Peter

and Plasmic Peril: Raina

Anyhoo, here it is. You've been waiting for Raina's pokemon, and now it comes.

Chamo Adventures: Plasmic Peril

Chapter 12: Thirty-Two

* * *

"Mandy, you wait right here. Come on, Raina."

I trailed behind Professor Ash as he lead me away from the gate surrounding the lab, where Mandy and her meraoi, Freya, as she called it, stood behind. Mandy, apparently, was still a little worried about me. She waved (Freya copied the gesture with a jagged fin) and called, "Good luck, Rain!" (Freya tried to imitate that too, but ended up making only a few weird "Guh," noises.)

I waved back, and followed Ash through the door. I thought at first we were going to the same room we got the starters in, but inside I discovered what looked more like a zoo than a laboratory. Jumpluffs zoomed all across the room, spreading a dusty pollen all over the room that revealed previously invisible footprints. Police officers held several leashes each; attached to them some growlithes, which were allowed to sniff up the whole room.

"I thought you said you were going to forget about the attack," I remarked suspiciously, waving off an airborne jumpluff that hadn't seen my head and almost bumped into it.

"They never found the thief who stole kittren. He apparently left town. So now all the investigator's think they'll find something from my lab."

As we went through a series of hallways, far away from the investigators, I finally could no longer hold my curiosity. "What kind of pokemon are you giving me?" I blurted out.

"Guess," the professor replied simply. "You'll never figure it out."

Ah, the guessing game. Obviously, Ash didn't yet know I was a nine-year-old child prodigy. Oh well. Deciding to start with the most obvious and then work my way down, I asked, "Pikachu?"

"Nope."

Of course, I had a sneaking suspicion all along that it wouldn't be pikachu. Ash's pikachu had a litter of pichus several years ago, but all of them had most likely been given away by now.

"Eevee?" I tried, hopefully. Eevee would be the best thing I could have right now, since it had so many different evolutions.

"Nope."

Then again, Eevee is an endangered species.

"Magby?" I said. Maybe he had chosen another fire pokemon, to make up for the loss of kittren. I wouldn't mind having a magby.

"Nope."

"Oddish?"

"Nope."

"Cubone?"

"Nope."

"Pachirisu?"

"Nope."

I was beginning to get desperate. I threw up my hands and cried, "Caterpie? Weedle? Plusle? Minum? Sentret? Rattata? What!?!"

Ash smirked and replied, "Not even close. I told you you'd never figure it out. You know your pokemon though, I'll give you that. I think this one will be perfect for you." He stopped by one of the doors and opened it, motioning me to go in first.

There in the room, sitting on one of the tables in a glass container was an olive-green hare-like creature. Not including it's long pointed ears, which were about six inches long each, it was about a foot tall. It did look an awful lot like a pikachu, except, as I mentioned above, it had furless green skin, preposterously large back legs, no red cheeks or stripes, a long thick tail with a purple sphere at the end, and piercing red eyes that made the otherwise cute-looking creature seem demonic. It also had a cast around it's back leg and a white tag clipped to it's ear.

"Fribbel," I said aloud with disbelief. Then I spun around to Professor Ash and shouted, "You cheated!! According to Wikipedia, Fribbel has never been used as a starter, or even and emergency starter."

Ash smiled and nodded. "Until now. You're going to help me find out if fribbel is a suitable starter."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I DON'T HAVE TIME TO PLAY TEST SUBJECT!!" I screamed, "I HAVE TO DEFEAT VOLTAIRE!!!"

When I stopped yelling I suddenly realized that Ash was covering his ears not because of me. Someone else was screaming too! From behind was a horrible continuous screech that could've shattered thin glass. I too clasped my hands to my ears and spun around to find the fribbel with it's head bent back and mouth wide open, shrieking at the top of it's lungs. It didn't last too long, though. Ash pushed a few buttons on the control panel, and another transparent, apparently soundproof wall surrounded the container, causing the screech to become a few tones fainter but still just as horrible sounding. Still, it was quiet enough to resume talking in normal voices.

"I'm sure you know enough about fribbel to realize that it can be scared very easily," Ash explained sternly. "You're going to have to be a lot gentler with him if you want to train him."

"Sorry, buddy, I'm not gonna train him!" I snapped. "Find some gullible kid to do it." I turned and began to leave.

"Take it or leave it. He's the only pokemon I have right now, so unless you want to wait a whole 'nother year for a kittren, I suggest you take it." he replied calmly.

I suddenly thought of Mandy. She told me she had always wanted to be a police officer. Like me, Mandy had been counting down the days til yesterday. If I had to wait another year, so would she, since our parents wanted our journeys to coincide. A year's delay in her training would be something hard to work out in the future. And what about little Freya? A year of living in a bathtub, no other pokemon to battle or play with. I could probably wait a year, but they couldn't.

Dammit, sometimes I really hate my conscience.

I turned around and said, "Fine."

The fribbel had stopped screaming by this time. I turned toward it and saw those red eyes squinting. I wasn't quite sure if the little beast was glaring or cowering from me. Maybe both. I sighed, supposing I would have to get used to the creepy expression.

"I'm glad you came through," Ash was saying during this. "Now this fribbel..."

"Don't tell me," I cut him off. "I can tell just by looking at him that he's level five and has two techniques."

Grinning, he replied, "Actually, he's level seven and has three techniques so far."

This surprised me quite a bit. For a wild level seven pokemon, he was surprisingly healthy. No scars or pale skin usually indicated young and inexperienced fribbels, and this one looked just like that. Besides the bandage perfectly unruffled green skin and apparently full of energy. Now granted, it can't at all compare with the gravelers on victory road and the legendary pokemon, but for fribbels in this city, seven is pretty badass.

"Impressive," I muttered, and I meant it. "And what about his techniques?"

"He can stomp and kick with his feet, squirt acid from his tail, and you've already heard his screech technique," Ash explained. "But anyway, as I was trying to say before I was interrupted, I just want you to know that this fribbel prefers to be called Thirty-Two."

"Thirty-two?" I said sceptically. I wanted to say that it was the stupidest and most unimaginative name in the world but managed to bite my tongue this time. "Where'd that come from?" I asked instead.

"Peter--you saw him, the one who took busharee--used to capture and tag the fribbels in the park until yesterday. He said that whenever he caught one, he would call it by it's tag number. So, since Thirty-two came by more often than most of the others, that's what he thinks his name is."

I approached Thirty-two's glass container while he was talking and tried the name out. "Hi, Thirty-two!" I said with false kindness, not wanting to make a bad first impression of myself.

Thirty-two raised his rear and arched his tail, seeming more like a scorpion than a hare. The next thing I knew, the glass wall was suddenly splashed with a murky purple colored liquid. Luckily, the walls of the container were made of something-stronger-than-glass, so Thirty-two's acid attack slid off as easily as water off a psyduck.

"I think you should get going," Ash said at last. He held out a Fast Ball in one hand and pushed the button, causing Thirty-two to be sucked up by a red beam from his little prison into the even smaller one. He then handed it to me. "I'd like to tell you first that Thirty-two is in perfect health despite a sprained leg from yesterday, so please be very patient and gentle while training it."

"Sure, whatever." I replied, snatching the Fast Ball from his hand and walking out of the room.

* * *

I didn't look at Mandy for most of the trip to our apartment.

"So how'd it go?" asked Mandy.

"Shut up."

"Which pokemon did you get?"

"Shut up!"

"'Kay."

We walked along quietly away from the lab. I was irate that morning about getting a difficult pokemon. It didn't help when I felt something touch my shoulder, turned around, and saw Freya looking right at from Mandy's arm.

"Mandy, you idiot! Put her back! Now!!" I ordered.

Freya cowered from my voice and burried her face in Mandy's shoulder who glared and replied, "Give me one good reason why I should."

"I'll give you two. One, because she could get a bad sunburn due to her sensitive skin, and two, need I remind you of the Poke plague she could catch due to your carelessness?"

"Impossible, you said she'd be fine if I let her out earlier," Mandy argued.

"That was because the sun wasn't up yet and we were near the lab, the most steral place in the city."

"Fine," she replied with a sigh, holding up the pokeball and recalling it. "But I thought they couldn't destroy the bacteria."

"...When it's infected a pokemon. It doesn't stand a chance if it's just lying out in the open."

Before we left town, we stopped by our apartment to pick up our packs. I added to my inventory a pair of rubber gloves, goggles, and an apron. Training a fribbel was going to be painful work.

* * *

SPOILER ALERT!: Wedge Palmer will be appearing in the next chapter. (Coughatlonglastcough) 


	13. Magenta Marketplace

Here y'go, Wedge!!

Chamo Adventures: The Burden of Freedom

Chapter 13: Magenta Marketplace

* * *

"Halt!" 

The voice rang through the otherwise quiet forest. Well, not so quiet, with all the racket the birds were making that morning. Still, it seemed out of place, for some reason, even though I was expecting it in a way.

Inferno was glaring at whoever it was. I figured it would be better to see who it was.

So I turned and faced the police officer who was threatening me with a Pokeball. It surprised me, mainly because I recognized her. She wasn't much younger than me, maybe fifteen or so. She had black hair tied away from her face and was rather tall and muscular, probably tough enough to beat me up. I had seen her several times before at Pizza-ria, and she seemed to be one of the few quiet customers. I couldn't, unfortunately, say the same thing about that little brat, (her sister I've heard) she's always with, who's so talkative and annoying. She was there too, by the way, standing off to the side with an annoyed expression on her face, but silent, for once.

It was clear that this police officer was surprised to see me as well, but it changed nothing for her. "I hereby declare you under arrest for pokemon theft!"

_Dammit, _I thought. _Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse._ But at the same time, I knew there was still a chance at diplomacy. In my mind, there were hundreds of excuses of things that _could've _been yesterday. "What is this?" I cried, holding up my hands in mock fear and irritation, "What did I supposedly steal?"

One thing I've always been good at is bluffing. Guess it's something that comes involuntarily with pick-pocketing. I think this one could've worked, if not for the fact that the very thing I stole wasn't in his pokeball, but standing beside me, snarling in way she couldn't miss. "Don't play innocent with me!" She replied with disgust at my misreably failed lie. "I saw you take that pokemon with my own eyes!" She pointed at Inferno, who hissed in response.

Nothing in life ever comes easy, I suppose. Still, I figured I could distract her and then bolt when she least expected it. After Inferno had taken down that swellow from last night, I was fairly confident I could take her on at least for a while, if things came to fighting. Grinning impudently, I replied, "Yeah? So what? Gonna try to do something about it?"

The girl clenched her teeth and pulled back her arm, ready to throw the pokeball.

I suddenly remembered that I knew barely anything about pokemon training, and that the battle against swellow was sort of won by dumb luck, the bird being too riled up to think straight. Unfortunately, it was too late. I had officially pissed off a girl.

"Go, Freya!" She cried, hurling the pokeball. A weird fish like thing appeared on the ground in front of Inferno and I. It growled, I think, and stepped...I mean...scooted toward us, trying to look threatening.

"Get it, Inferno," I said lazily, as if I had battled hundreds of these little monsters. (Another bluff) Inferno hissed at the fish and bounded forward, his previously adorable kitten face with murder written all over it.

"Tail whip!" the girl called immediately, and the fish leaped foreward into the air with unexpected graceful arcs toward the waiting Inferno.

Now, up til this point, I had been planning to let Inferno do all the battling by himself. Now I realized it would look unprofessional on my part, and remember, I was trying to _look _professional, like I was a long-time trainer, not some desperate pickpocket who had snatched this pokemon yesterday. I decided at the last minute to just shout the things I was sure he would do, so it would look like I was commanding him.

"Jump and scratch it!" I ordered, but much to my dismay, Inferno simply dodged the flying creature, then spun around when he was a distance away.

Freya landed somewhat clumsily on the ground, but quickly recovered and turned its back to me so it could face Inferno. It also made some weird, "Coo coo," noises.

"Freya, bubble attack!" Freya leaned back, inhaling deeply, then it shot its head forward and spat several huge bubbles.

"Dodge, Inferno!" I cried, praying he would, for once, listen to me. He didn't, and began bounding straight toward the string of bubble. However, he must've perfectly timed each leap, for every pounce brought him on top of a bubble, popping each with his claws, before he came straight at Freya.

"Look out!" the Police girl called. Obviously, she had not expected Inferno to fight his way through the bubble attack. Her command was too late though. Inferno had latched onto the fish with his teeth and was proceeding to tear it apart with all four claws at once. Freya was screaming like a banshee, so I covered my ears and closed my eyes until I heard it stop.

When I looked, Inferno was still sitting there, but Freya was nowhere to be found. The police girl was staring sadly at a pokeball clutched in her hand, so I was guessing that she had recalled her pokemon. Inferno was still facing her, probably giving her what must've been a bloody sneer.

I blinked for a second before smiling. "Guess I win," I remarked.

Finally, the green haired girl spoke. "Not quite," was all she said. She put on a long smock, goggles, and a pair of rubber gloves before releasing her pokemon.

I was strongly reminded of Jazz Jackrabbit when the creature appeared, for it was, indeed, a green rabbit, minus the guns and humanoid stance. It also had a long, thick tail with a purple ball on the end and nasty looking red eyes. These, surprisingly enough, were filled with desperate fear when it saw Inferno, and it fled in the opposite direction as he began to gleefully chase it.

I knew it. The equation was obvious. Cat plus rabbit equals eaten rabbit. Inferno would surely win.

Just when Inferno began to catch up, it was suddenly and unexpectedly thrown backwards and crumpled in a heap in the center of the small battle field. The rabbit lay cowering across from it, but its backlegs were still ready for another strike. The darn thing had kicked Inferno.

If it were an official battle, Inferno probably would've lost. But in a life-or-death struggle, he was far from defeated. He pushed himself upright very shakily and kept his eyes locked on the powerful yet wimpy creature. Slowly, he took several careful steps, then stood still, as if daring the little wuss to strike again.

Nothing happened for several moments until the green haired girl decided to intervene. She stepped out, scooped her pokemon up, turned it around, and set it down again. It tried to escape, but the girl was blocking all side with her arms except in the direction of Inferno. "Acid," she ordered it.

Finally, the rabbit obeyed. It lowered it head, raising it's rear end and long tail, then released a dark purple liquid that began flying straight toward the awaiting cat.

Inferno was just as fast. He opened his mouth and exhaled a cloud of thick dark smoke. It met the purple stuff before it could reach him, but then something far more disasterous happened.

The roiling cumulus began swirling together, turning an eerie shade of dark violet. It then engulfed both pokemon in a swirling darkness. That's when I heard the screeching. It much more horrid and loud than anything that fish from the last battle could've done. At the same time, I could hear a yowling, quiet in comparrison. It was Inferno.

Knowing full well that the cloud was full of that rabbit's poison, I covered my mouth and nose with the coller of my shirt before heading in. It nasty work. I could barely see and the stuff was burning my eyes. With one hand I tried to shield my eyes and with the other I made sure my mouth was covered properly.

Just then, something unusually warm rubbed up against my leg. Without thinking, I scooped up a weary Inferno and rushed out from the way I came. I was greeted by morning sunshine and fresh air. I kept running.

* * *

I didn't stop running for quite a long time. Inferno struggled and yowled, but I only held him tighter, not caring if I was hurting him even more than he already was. Main thing was to get as far away from there as I could. 

Eventually, the roads got wider, the trees began thinning out and the sun got brighter with the day. I finally stopped to catch my breath when I reached a signpost. In that moment, I felt a sudden jab in my arm that must've gone straight through my jacket and into my skin.

I dropped Inferno and swore in pain as I clutched my hurt arm. No blood, but I was probably gonna have a bruise there for weeks.

Inferno, meanwhile, had landed gracefully on the ground beside me, eyes locked on the path we had been going on. He did not look good. His fur was ruffled and even burned off in several places. His legs were trembling as if it was an effort just to stand. Still, he was amped for battle and seemed to just be waiting for anything that came down the path.

I turned to the sign to make sure we were going the right way:

**Chartreuse City: East**

**Magenta Town: West**

**Orchid Desert: South**

I didn't care about the Charteuse or the Desert,(_What Desert?_ I asked myself nervously) but at least I knew for sure I was heading the right way now.

"C'mon, Inferno," I said to the glaring cat, and although it followed me, it kept an eye on the path behind us. I wasn't sure if I'd ever figure him out.

* * *

We reached the town much sooner than expected, around noontime. Magenta Town. It was a weird little place, but pleasant. The moment I reached the sign that said, "Welcome to Magenta Town," the first thing I noticed was the heavy smell of fish. 

The houses were small with gravel roads leading to and from them. Behind them was the crimson river, which obviously wasn't really crimson. There were plenty of boat rentals and stuff, but not a car in sight. There wasn't any need for one. You probably could've walked from one end of the town to the other in five or ten minutes.

I wandered around for a bit until I saw a small marketplace. With the fishy smell making me even hungrier than I already was.

Most of the shops were selling seafood, tentacools in paticular. One shop had a sign above it labled, "FRESH KARP-KA-BOBS!!" Obviously, I had no clue what that meant, so I stood at the end of the short line to see.

A rather fat man was talking with one of his customers as he reached into a small bucket beside him and pulled out a live baby magikarp. He then set it down on a flat stove in front of him where it flopped desperately while being cooked alive. Then he took one that was already done, stabbed a skewer into its mouth til it came out the other end, added some veggies and gave it to the person in the front of the line.

A bit disgusted by the spectacle, I started to leave until I heard a shout. "Hey! Who's Pokemon is this?!" I turned and saw Inferno sitting on the stove, oblivious to the heat, holding one of the magikarp proudly in his mouth.

A few minutes later I had paid for the fish, (luckily, it wasn't very expensive.) and I was looking for something I could stomach. I finally did; there was a shop selling sandwhiches. (Fish sandwhiches, of course, but at least they were already dead before they were prepared.) After I bought one, I suddenly heard a loud sailing over all the clamor: "RAAAR-EEH EEEYYYEEE-TUUUMSSss!"

It definitely wasn't a human voice. It was too high-pitched and had a slight breathy screech in it. Inferno's ears perked up when he heard it and trotted away, still holding the fish.

"Get back here!" I called, running after him. Soon we came to booth with "Rare Items," written on the sign. The booth itself was a glass case filled with exotic shells, scales, even some jewels. The guy running it was, to my surprise, about my age, if not younger. He wore tattered clothes and a red bandanna over his dark brown hair. Right then, he was patting the head of a bizarre looking creature on the table beside him. It was a pink spherical little guy with squinty eyes and long ears with yellow tips. It was quivering and cowering away from Inferno, who hissed up at it while holding a protective paw on his fish.

When the kid saw me, he smiled and asked, "Is that your pokemon?"

"Yeah," I muttered, scooping the cat into my arms. He managed to grab the fish before I did this and proceeded to gnaw on it. "Sorry, he's really been an idiot lately."

"No problem," he replied. Then looked at me and added, "I haven't seen you around here before. You new in town?"

I nodded, "From Chartreuse. What about you?"

He hesitated a bit, "Nibelheim Town. Lived there until..."

"Until what?" I questioned.

There was a slight glare in his eyes as he replied. "Until I was forced to leave."

Sensing the forbidden ground I was beginning to tred on, I changed the subject. "Listen, have you seen a guy called Gyro? I was supposed to meet him in town."

The guy frowned and thought for a moment. "Does he have a Chatot, by any chance?"

"Yeah," _And an annoying one at that._ I added silently.

He reached over and tapped his little pink pokemon and it continued it's howling speech. "RAAAR-EEH EEEYYYEEE-TUUUMSSss! JOOO-LA-REEEEE!! ALL-LEEE-MENNNT-TAAALLL STOWNESSSsss!! YOOO NAAAAAIIM EEET!"

"You're Theo, aren't you?" he whispered under the cry.

"Damn. Everyone seems to know my name lately," I grumbled.

He chuckled and said, "You can call me Wedge. Anyway, Gyro was here waiting for you, but when you didn't show up he had to go. However, I'll tell you what he wanted you to do." Wedge looked at the cat in my arms and said, "First, take that pokemon to the pokemon center to rest up. It looks pretty beat."

"That's what I thought, but he's doing better now," I replied.

"Trust me. It's best to take your pokemon to the center even if he's not as hurt as he looks. After you drop him off, meet me back here, and I'll take you to Giovanni's hideout."

* * *

OOC: Come on, people! I'm still taking character submissions! At least let me know you're still reading my story.


	14. Raina's Scheme

Sorry this chapter is so short. I think I'm starting to run out of ideas.

Chamo Adventures: A Secret Civilization

Chapter 14: Raina's Scheme

* * *

"I can't believe he got away!" I griped. 

Raina and I were sitting on a couple stumps in the middle of the forest, resting after the battle with Theo. I couldn't believe it had been him! (I knew his name because I heard it mentioned a few times before.) Theo had stolen my little sister's pokemon…

Raina was busy bandaging up a whimpering Freya, who had been hurt pretty badly during the fight. "I can," Raina scoffed. "You have zero battling experience, you've barely trained Freya, you didn't know how powerful the Kittren was…quite honestly, I would've been surprised if you had won."

"Shut up," I muttered. "What about you? That cloud of smoke your pokemon made was enough to let Theo escape."

"That was Kittren's attack, Smokescreen," she replied simply. "It would've happened anyway. That's what Pudgy was for."

To clarify things a bit, Pudgy was a pidgey that Raina had captured shortly after leaving the city. When Kittren used smokescreen before, Raina called it out to have it blow the poisonous cloud away. Pudgy was sitting on a small tree watching us at that point in time. He'd occasionally zoom in and out of the trees but stayed in the general area.

"So that's it?" I asked. "You knew this was going to happen? Why'd you have to poison the cloud then."

Raina snorted. "That's a stupid question. That final blow must've seriously hurt Kittren. If you don't believe me, we'll find out when we get to the Magenta Pokemon Center."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that we're going to find Theo there, and his Kittren. He'll have to go there if he wants his pokemon to live."

"If," I pointed out. "I bet he wouldn't give a Damn if he worked that poor thing to death."

"Then we'll catch him in the desert. It's the only route that leads out of Magenta other than the one we're traveling on. Trust me, no one has hiked from Magenta to Orchid without the help of a pokemon. Too many strong ones out there."

I was shocked. I never knew my little sister, who was, in fact, extremely smart, oftentimes moody, would be so diabolical and try to strand a fellow human being in the desert with a bunch of beastly pokemon. She didn't even look diabolical. Just indifferent, as if she didn't really mind what she was planning. "I…I can't go along with that," I stammered. What else could I say?

"It's too late," Raina replied. "He'll either be at the Pokemon Center or in the Desert." She had finished patching up Freya at that moment who immediately crawled to my side, just as freaked out as I was. "Pudgy, return!" she called, raising a poke ball which shot a red beam of light at the pidgey, pulling him inside. Raina then picked up the open med kit and started walking west again. I scooped Freya into my arms and began to follow her.

"Poor Kittren," Freya said quite clearly.

I nodded.

* * *

"Hello, my name is Nurse Donna. How may I help you?" 

Obviously, we at the Magenta Pokemon Center. _Please, God,_ I was praying, _let that son-of-a-houndour be here._

"First and foremost," I said aloud, "our pokemon need healing."

"Identifications, please?" Donna asked. We showed her our trainer cards and a chubby Chansey took our pokeballs away on a tray. "Anything else?"

"Yes," I took a big breath and showed her my Police Badge. "I'm here to arrest a person called Theo. He has a Kittren which I believe was dropped off here at some point."

"A Kittren? Hang on." Donna went to a computer and began typing. A few minutes later, she came back, saying, "I'm sorry. The only Kittren we have right now is owned by a different person. I'll keep my eyes open for this Theo boy. What does he look like?"

I sighed and told her. "He's wearing blue jeans, a brown jacket, and a big red Pizza-ria hat. Tell me," I added, "who brought the Kittren in?"

"Wedge Palmer."

_Oooh boy._


	15. Familiar Faces

Disclaimer: I do not own the character Jessica. On that note, I don't own Wedge Palmer or a majority of Pokemon Characters that appear in this story. Thank you.

Chamo Adventures: The Great Atrocity

Chapter 15: Familiar Faces

* * *

I had missed Magenta's seasonal Fishing Festival, but the sales afterward were still in full swing. It was probably due to the damming of the Crimson River that such good catches were made that month. After all, many of the Seaking that had swam up river to lay their eggs last fall were now trapped with their fry in the fishing vicinity of Magenta and Sienna City, a little further west. 

Now, I'm not trying to make it look like these people are bunch of heartless carnivores who capture and eat fish Pokemon by the hundreds while endangering species. Four times a year, they simply held one of these fishing parties, then practically left the river alone the rest of the time while they sold their wares. Most of Magenta's income came from the fishing trade. The other part came from small herb crops, which was a not-so-money-making yet year-round business.

Apart from the fact that I happened to be a vegetarian, I rather liked Magenta Town. It was usually peaceful, plus, I knew that I could probably find some decent poison there to start working on the potion. I meant THE potion.

I stood at the edge of the forest, looking out towards the bustling town. Red banners and Magikarp shaped kites were still floating in the sky, but the fishing docks were completely empty. _Huh. That was strange. I could have sworn there were two people walking on the docks together, but now they're gone. Oh well._

I wandered down the shoreline toward the shops. As I passed one, ownerless, with a Whismur, Eevee, and Fribbel guarding it's wares and a sign that said, "Closed for lunch," I was suddenly reminded how much I would like something to eat. Before I went and bought some vegetarian sushi, I spotted a Leaf Stone inside the glass casing. I decided I would buy it if I had the money when the owner of this shop returned.

At that moment, I heard a loud commotion going on in one of the streets and spotted a large crowd kids. Curious, I took a peered over their heads and saw a double-pokemon battle just beginning. That is, by the way, a battle that's just like any other except each trainer chooses two pokemon to fight at once. In this case, however, their were three trainers: One of them was none other than Harold, using his poypolyp, Tox, and another girl with brown hair and a pink dress who I didn't recognize had just sent out a tyrogue, a small humanoid fighting pokemon. She must've been friends with Harold, as both of them were teaming up against the green-haired girl from Chartreuse, now wearing a long white apron and a pair of goggles. It was little wonder why she was dressed so ridiculously when she sent out her two pokemon: a pidgey and fribbel.

"Constrict Fribbel, Tox!" Harold ordered.

"Tyty, Tackle the pidgy!" cried the pink-dress girl.

Tyty, being the fastest, rushed fearlessly toward the pidgey, while Tox began stretching its black tendrils toward the fribbel, who began gave a frightened squeak before fleeing in the opposite direction. The moment it turned around I saw its eartag. Even though I couldn't read it very well while it was rushing, I recognized the shape of the numbers.

Thirty-two.

Anger and horror flooded me. How could Thirty-two be fighting?! He had sprained his ankle just yesterday, something that couldn't have healed overnight unless one of those insta-healer machines they have at pokemon centers was used on him. And even artificially mended injuries weren't as lasting as naturally repaired ones. Not only that, Thirty-two was one of the friendliest fribbels at the park. Unlike the others, he didn't have a very strong territorial instinct, fought only in play. You just couldn't throw such a pokemon into a trainer battle right away and expect it it heartlessly fight. So when the green-haired girl grabbed it suddenly by the ears and shoved it back into the makeshift human arena, I knew I had to intervene.

Unfortuntely, I didn't get a chance right away. As soon as Fribbel was facing theenemy pokemon, the green-haired girl called out, "Thirty-two, Screech!"

He obeyed. Window panes rattled, hands flew to ears, and many of the younger children fled with tears streaming down their faces. Only the older kids, eager to see through the whole battle, gritted their teeth and endured the horrible noise.

"Now, Pudgy, Gust attack!" Thirty-two's move had certainly hindered most of the pokemon on the field. Tyty had stopped running to clutch his head in pain, and Tox was shaken considerably. Pudgy, the pidgey, began to rapidly flap its wings, kicking up a powerful wind that knocked Tyty off his feet, a fall which he didn't get from. Tox, being attached to the ground, swayed a little, but did nothing more. It began to send its tentacles at the pidgey.

"Dodge and tackle!" commanded the green-haired girl. Pudgy swooped nimbly past the whipping appendages and rammed itself straight into the startled poypolyp, who then flopped to the ground.

The match was over.

"Tox!"

"Tyty!"

Both kids ran to their defeated pokemon and recalled them, faces filled with disappointment. The green-haired girl simply recalled her pidgey, then frowned and looked about.

It was then that I realized Thirty-two was out of sight. The girl hadn't recalled him, so the only thing that could've happened was that he ran away while Pudgy was finishing off the two opponents. I, for one, could only feel glad for him. But it was then that I remember he would be in far worse danger with the plague going around. In desperation, I yelled, "Thirty-two!"

Green-haired girl shot me surprised look. In that same instance I felt something touch my foot. Looking down I saw the fribbel curled up and trembling.


	16. A New Era of Hatred

Chamo Adventures: Plasmic Peril

Chapter 16: A New Era of Hatred

* * *

"Come on! Say that again! Say it!" 

He was wearing a dark blue tattered shirt, black jeans, and had short, black hair. I recognized the boy, Peter, who rolled his eyes and replied, "You heard me the first time. You shouldn't raise that fribbel."

I started seeing red. "I see now!!" I cried. "Just because I'm slightly younger than the average trainer, you assume that I can't take care of my own pokemon! Is that it?!"

"I don't have to assume," he said, casually shrugging. "Judging by the way you battled with him just now, Thirty-two will be dead before the end of this week, either from injuries or heart disease."

My fingers twitched involuntarily, ready to strangle the arrogance out of him. "What do you know!!" I roared.

He shrugged again. "A lot. I used to tag these things."

I looked at Thirty-two, and my rage only increased, seeing the rodent cowering at the feet of that jerk. I quickly recalled him, and then turned back to Peter.

"We'll see about that!" I shrieked. "I challenge you to a battle, you arrogant jerk!!"

Peter groaned, "Do I have to?"

Suddenly, the crowd that had gathered around to watch my previous battle with Harold and Jessica started chanting, "Go! Go! Fight! Fight! Scratch! Scratch! Bite! Bite!"

"Yeah!" I insisted over the chant. "Right now! Unless you're scared!"

Peter closed his eyes, like he was thinking about it, then opened them and said, "Fine. Single, though, sudden death, no substitutes."

I smiled and raised Pudgy's pokeball. "I accept!"

Peter sighed. "Let's just get this over with. Go, George."

The crowd had parted again for the pokemon to battle. There was a pop and a busharee appeared.

I stared with disbelief at it. "You named it George?" I moaned.

"It was his idea," Peter replied. He pointed at Harold, who grinned proudly.

Jessica tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, "Harold told me that George is really strong, even though he doesn't look it. He beat up Tox without a second thought!"

"Well," I replied, "he may be able to take on a water pokemon, but he's no match for...Pudgy!" I threw the pokeball I was holding, and my pidgey appeared, hovering in front of George. "Pudgy, gust attack!"

Pudgy began furiously blowing a strong wind at the bush. To my surprise, George dug into the ground with his roots and held himself there while the gust, though rattling him and causing a little damage, barely hurt him.

"Tackle it," Peter ordered. George leapt into the air toward Pudgy.

"Gust again!" I cried, but too little, too late. The Busharee pushed Pudgy into the dust, who screamed and struggled fiercely. But George held him fast, holding both of Pudgy's wings and straggling him with his roots. Then...

"That's enough! Stop, George!" It was Peter, who was glaring at his pokemon. When George didn't stop, Peter recalled the starter into his Pokeball, leaving Pudgy lying helplessly on the ground.

I smirked. "Recalling your Pokemon is automatic surrender in this battle. You lose!"

Peter rolled his eyes again and replied, "If you want a fair fight, I'll call George out again and let him break your pidgey's neck."

I hissed, stared at the fallen bird, then recalled him.

"Look," Peter said, beginning to walk away, "if you really want to raise that Fribbel, remember to hide your hands behind your back whenever you call him out."

I blinked. "What?"

"Later."

"Oh YEAH!!??" I shrieked after him, waving a fist. "I don't have to do a damn thing you say, got it?! GOT IT!!??"

"Raina!" a familiar voice called behind me. I turned around and saw Mandy hurrying towards me. A bit a fear crept into me, since I had never before seen her looking so frantic and desperate. Or angry.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU STAY AT THE CENTER LIKE I TOLD YOU TO!!?" She gasped furiously. She towered over me, glaring, waiting for an explaination. It's quite scary seeing your own calm-minded thoughtful big sister looking so flustered and upset. It was enough to make me forget the humiliation of defeat. Only at that short point in time.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

A couple moments had cooled her down a little, but she was still clearly mad at me. "While we were out, someone hacked into the PC storage."


	17. James Bond had it Easy

I can't believe it took me this long to complete one lousy chapter. Next one will come sooner. No promises.

Chamo Adventures: the Burden of Freedom

Chapter 17: James Bond had it Easy

* * *

So, the interview with my new boss. To say the least, I found it intimidating. 

Yeah, I am a big wimp. And my eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw Wedge open up a trapdoor in the dock, revealing a dark tunnel. My amazement only grew when, upon walking through this tunnel, I found a fancy little elevator that must've taken me twenty-thousand leagues under the sea. At first I was confused as why they had bolted some chairs in the elevator, but after about thirty minutes of standing up, I decided to take a seat.

So the elevator finally reached B185, or something like that. The door opened and I was shocked to find the polished white metal walls, kind of like Professor Ash's lab, and there are some black-coated guards standing by some of the doors. Initially, I was scared that they would shoot me, thinking that I was an intruder, but I became afraid of something else as I walked down the hall. Each one saluted me as I walked by. I think I heard one whisper to his friend, "Another one bites the dust."

I went through those doors and came to another room, one with an old, wrinkled and rather cross looking secretary sitting at a desk by the door. Beyond that was what appeared to be small waiting room.

"And you are...?" The secretary asked me in a nasal, not-so kind voice.

"Theo Loutci."

She typed something in her laptop, then said, "have a seat."

I sat down next these huge doors made of wood, surprisingly enough, with cool looking carvings in it of some dragon and bird-like pokemon. Because there weren't any books or magazines, I spent my time staring at them. The language carved around the pictures was just unown, a font I'd seen on some of the school computers, commonly joked around since scientists thought it was an ancient language. Each picture of a pokemon had a name carved next to it, and there was one picture of a bird with flaming wings that I just couldn't ignore for to long. The name next to it was Moltres.

_Deja vu,_ I thought distantly.

"Giovanni is ready," she said, her voice shattering my thoughts and the silence. "Just go through the doors you've been staring at."

So I went in, and the only light in the whole room was coming from behind a guy sitting at a desk. I could only see his silhouette, but there was no doubt in my mind who it was.

As I slowly walked toward him, I heard some weird sloshing noises coming from either side of me. I thought it might be his swimming pool, but as I peered a little closer into the water, I asked myself, _Who'd want to go swimming with Sharpedos?_

"So you're finally here," Giovanni said. "Your name again?"

"Theo Loutci."

He shuffled through his paperwork for a few moments.

"Ah, you're that kid that Gyro guided here."

I hesitated. "No, actually, Wedge Palmer showed me here, and he also dropped my pokemon off at the Center." I saw something moving next to his desk when I said the word pokemon.

"Why is that?" He sounded annoyed.

"Well," I started, wanting to be truthful but not make it sound like it wasn't all my fault. "I got a little lost on my way to Magenta, and Gyro had to leave Town before I got there."

There was a long silence in which Giovanni was fumbling with something in his desk. "Catch." he said, throwing something in the air.

I caught it. It was Inferno's Pokeball.

"Open it." He ordered.

I pushed the button, and a flash of red light later, Inferno was standing in front of me. He looked much better after being in Pokemon Center, although how they took care of him that quickly was a mystery to me. He looked up at me, confused as to where we were.

"Kittren, eh?" Giovanni mused. "The fire starter. A fair choice."

"Yes, sir?" I said carefully. _So _this_ is Kittren, _I thought.

"He's yours," he added. "Any nicknames?"

"Well, I call him Inferno." At the mention of his name, Inferno rubbed his head against my leg.

"Fine," he nodded. "Also take this." He threw this little plastic blue suitcase that I found out was much heavier than it looked upon catching it. "That has all the equipment you'll need. Pokedex, Poketch, communicator, snag balls..."

"Snag balls?"

"A kind of Pokeball you can use to capture other trainers' pokemon with. I don't have time to go over a hundred items with you. There's also an instruction manual in there."

"Oh."

There was a long silence, which I finally broke. "So...was that the interview? Can I go now?"

A long sigh. "Yes, I suppose. Go straight to Orchid Town from here, and don't worry about those little girls you led here."

"How'd you know..."

A glare crept into his voice. "Just don't worry about them. I have ways to deal with meddlers."

"Yes, sir."

"Go then."

I didn't need to recall Inferno. He followed me out of the room without complaint.

* * *

Everyone, the guards, even the nasally old secretary, insisted on shaking my hand and telling me "Congratulations," on my way out of the hideout. An official Team Rocket member for less than five minutes, and I already had friends. 

Freedom tastes pretty Damn good. But only at first.


End file.
